1960 United States Senate elections

1960 United States Senate elections

← 1958 November 8, 1960 1962 →

34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate
51 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Lyndon Johnson
(retired)[a]
Everett Dirksen
Party Democratic Republican
Leader since January 3, 1953 January 3, 1959
Leader's seat Texas Illinois
Seats before 66 34
Seats after 64 36
Seat change Decrease 2 Increase 2
Popular vote 18,547,250[1] 14,894,867[1]
Percentage 55.1% 44.2%
Seats up 23 11
Races won 21 13

1960 United States Senate special election in Missouri1960 United States Senate election in Alabama1960 United States Senate election in Alaska1960 United States Senate election in Arkansas1960 United States Senate election in Colorado1960 United States Senate election in Delaware1960 United States Senate election in Georgia1960 United States Senate election in Idaho1960 United States Senate election in Illinois1960 United States Senate election in Iowa1960 United States Senate election in Kansas1960 United States Senate election in Kentucky1960 United States Senate election in Louisiana1960 United States Senate election in Maine1960 United States Senate election in Massachusetts1960 United States Senate election in Michigan1960 United States Senate election in Minnesota1960 United States Senate election in Mississippi1960 United States Senate election in Montana1960 United States Senate election in Nebraska1960 United States Senate election in New Hampshire1960 United States Senate election in New Jersey1960 United States Senate election in New Mexico1960 United States Senate election in North Carolina1960 United States Senate election in Oklahoma1960 United States Senate election in Oregon1960 United States Senate election in Rhode Island1960 United States Senate election in South Carolina1960 United States Senate election in South Dakota1960 United States Senate election in Tennessee1960 United States Senate election in Texas1960 United States Senate election in Virginia1960 United States Senate election in West Virginia1960 United States Senate election in Wyoming
Results of the elections (excl. North Dakota):
     Republican gain
     Democratic hold      Republican hold
     No election

Majority Leader before election

Lyndon Johnson
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Mike Mansfield[a]
Democratic

The 1960 United States Senate elections coincided with the election of John F. Kennedy as president on November 8, 1960. The 33 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections. A special election was also held on June 28, 1960, for a mid-term vacancy in North Dakota where Democrats flipped a seat to expand their majority to 66–34. As Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson was elected Vice President, Mike Mansfield became the new majority leader.

The Republicans gained two seats at the expense of the Democrats. However, Republican Senator-elect Edwin Keith Thomson of Wyoming died December 9, 1960, and was replaced by appointee Democratic John J. Hickey at the beginning of the Congress, reducing Republican gains to one seat. However, this was canceled out by a 1961 special election where Republican John Tower flipped Johnson's Senate seat. The Democrats nonetheless retained a commanding lead in the Senate with 64 seats to 36.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Clerk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).